July 22, 2015

Newborn twins!

The beach in this photo is just a few minutes away from my youngest sister’s house. So of course, when I visited her, we went over to see the ocean. But the beach was not the main attraction. There was a much more exciting reason for my visit — newborn twins!

Yes, Urban Sophisticate Sister and her husband, Tall Architect, are parents now. Their daughters were born at 38 weeks, which is fantastic for twins, and the babies are clearly thriving. They looked exactly alike when I first met them, but after a few days, I’d spent enough time staring at them that the subtle differences seemed obvious and I could tell them apart easily. (That’s usually my experience with identical twins — they are identical only to people who don’t know them. That’s why, even as a kid, I thought the movie Parent Trap was ridiculous.)

Visiting a household with newborn twins is completely wonderful. Normally, I’m always fighting relatives and friends for a chance to hold whoever the newest baby is. But with twins, there are enough babies to go around! There is ALWAYS a baby to hold. And these babies are especially cute. I took hundreds of photos to try to capture their many expressions.

I will also add that visiting my sister gave me new respect for friends who have raised twins. It’s not twice as much work; it’s like ten times as much. My sister and her husband are new at the parenting, but apparently, having twins is the best crash course ever: after two weeks of non-stop practice, they were experts at changing, holding, swaddling, feeding, and comforting their newborns. They also both seemed totally sleep-deprived, a condition I remember well from my days of having newborns, although looking back, I have to say that I had it easy: I had my kids one at a time.

On the long drive home from my sister’s house, I stopped at rest area and met a woman who was carrying an infant. As I talked to her, I noticed that I was unconsciously looking around; I was wondering where the other baby was. That’s right. After just a few days with my sister’s twins, I have come to think that babies come in pairs.

12 comments:

Awww, as a new Auntie (to a single!) I share both your awe and excitement. We remember how tired we were as we watch the new family expand and blossom, crawl off to our own (blissfully uninterrupted) beds with a mixture of relief and tenderness, both nostalgic for our own sleepless nights and relieved to be past them. And holding that new baby...ah! What a lovely gift to have a pair. From the Auntie side. LOL

Awww, as a new Auntie (to a single!) I share both your awe and excitement. We remember how tired we were as we watch the new family expand and blossom, crawl off to our own (blissfully uninterrupted) beds with a mixture of relief and tenderness, both nostalgic for our own sleepless nights and relieved to be past them. And holding that new baby...ah! What a lovely gift to have a pair. From the Auntie side. LOL

Awww, as a new Auntie (to a single!) I share both your awe and excitement. We remember how tired we were as we watch the new family expand and blossom, crawl off to our own (blissfully uninterrupted) beds with a mixture of relief and tenderness, both nostalgic for our own sleepless nights and relieved to be past them. And holding that new baby...ah! What a lovely gift to have a pair. From the Auntie side. LOL

Several of my grad-school friends have had twins (a known side-effect of starting one's family relatively late, and, in at least one case, taking drugs to encourage ovulation), and I found that I, too, began to think of babies as coming in pairs (boy-girl pairs, at that). There are definitely some advantages, but the first few years are tough.

Twins at any age fascinate me. I know one particular family where three sets of twins were born to the same parents and they were our neighbours. For a few years I grew alongside them and have never got over the experience.

I simply love to hold newborns. And to have two of them, well, that is wonderful! I'm so glad you got to be there for the event and had enough baby time to satisfy you. I just realized that I'm in need of one myself! :-)

Congratulations to the whole family! I follow you on facebook and snuck over to your sister's page to have a peek. They look healthy and beautiful! I've had three grand babies (one at a time) and it's such a joy holding those squishy newborn bodies. Of course, the joy continues as they grow and learn to return the affection.